Improvement in gathering attachments for sewing-machines



cam to p.

UNITED STATES PATENT GEFIGE.

i WILLIAM A. MACK, OF NORWALK, OHIO.

` IMPROVEMENT IN GATHERING ATTACHMENTS FOR vSAEWING-MAGHINES.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. l l 1,130, dated January 24, 1871.

Toall 'whom -it may concern:

slight changes and modifications in such eo-ordination, and in their co-operative action, for the purpose, when in place `on the sewing-machine, of performing the function called gathering, wherein -eaoh folder gather of the material is by a positive and automatic action placed in such relation to t he needle, 8vo., and of the sewing-machine, as to insure its being held by the stitch that needle then makes. It further relates to the means wherebv several such gathers or ruffles may be made at the same time, and also one or more, out of several pieces of cloth, may be gathered and sewed, and all with perfect correspondence and regularity of stitch and plait.

Figure l is a front elevation of the attachment properly applied to the head of a sewing-machine. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is another elevation of the same. Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, and'8 are the detail parts.

In all of these figures the vsame letters represent the same parts.

F isthe foot-bar of the sewing-machine. H is the head of the same. N is the needle-bar of the same. b is a boss continuous with the 4foot-piece. b is a binding and stay-screw. c is a conical spring. f is the foot-piece. p is the gatherer or plait-bar. b is a boss on the needle-bar. N is the needle of the sewingmachine. p is a pin holding the slotted plater is a recess for the piece or pieces of cloth above the gather. s is a slotted adjustable plate-cam. n is the nippers.

The description and operation of the invention are as follows, viz: The nippers n are composed of two thin plates of metal, which are intended to operate together upon the cloth being gathered like'fingers. These plates approach each other at the ends nearest the needle and presser-foot, and come in contact when empty; but when in charge of the material press upon and even into the same with suflcient vtenacity and force to insure it being carried forward when they are moved forward. These ends are provided with the needle-slot, 4which divides them into teeth or serrations, the sharp edges and corners of which are pressed,` both `by the spring action of the plates and the natural resistance of their converging shape, into the material.

To further help make the hold of the nippers on the material positive I sharpen their forward ends with the sharp edges inward and the bevel outward. Therefore,y when f moved forward they engage and carry forward the material with certainty; but when moved backward, while the material is held in front, they readily slip over the same.

The parts being in the relations represented in Fig. l,`the boss b on ,the needle-bar N, in contact with the upper end of the plait-bar, hung at b of the stay-screw b', haspressed, and continnesto hold, the nippers under the toe of the presser-foot, with the plait or gather in charge, andl ready for the descending needle to engage, secure, and stitch the same. As the needle-bar and-needle commence to descend, the boss b" loses contact with the plaitbar p. Owing, however, to the pressure of the conical spring c, held down, as required, by the binding and stay-screw b', which passes into and secures the plait-bar, said bar remains in place during the descent of the needle, and until it has penetrated and engaged the cloth, plait, or gather. Toward the end of its downward motion the boss b" comes in contact with the slotted plate-cam s, and, as it does so, the plait-bar p begins to move, and to slip the nippers u, which hold the material to be plaited between them, as it were between thumb and finger, along on the material; the needle, in

. the material, preventingits simultaneous moveheld in any given position by the stay-screw S". The next action, after the finish of the downward motion of the needle-bar and boss, is of course an upward motion of the same.

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When this takes place, and the boss b has cleared the plate-cam S, the conical spring c, as before, holds the plait-bar and its fixed attachments stationary until the boss b again comes in contact with the upper part of the plait-bar, and then, by the sliding action of the boss b, said bar is moved again. the nippers, with the new measure of cloth for a plait, being carried under the toe of the foot-piece thereby. From this point the above-described action may be repeated again and again, resulting in the gathering and sewing desired.

It is evident that one or more thicknesses of cloth may be intrusted to the nippers a, and all be plaited and sewed at the same time.

Thus one or more pieces may be sewed upon one or more thicknesses, passed under the foot and under the nippers, and not gathered; so,

also, may they, one or more, be sewed at the same time to'one or more thicknesses, made to pass through the recess 1', provided for that purpose, and then under the foot, and all toY one or more thicknesses, passed under the nippers n; or in other words the ruffle may be made, and at the same time sewed between two or more pieces of cloth passing over and under the nippers.

When itis desired to do puftiu g itis only necessary to repeat the gathering and sewing uponV the opposite sides of the material. The plaits or gathers, formed by this attachment, are made with absolute precision and regularity. Each plait has its own stitch, has the same amount of material 'in each and every one, except where it is desired to vary the same, which can very readily be done. The gathering of one or more pieces or ruffles between `two or more pieces of cloth, laid plain, can be accomplished, and the whole sewed with one seam, permitting the folding edges or seams, on 'each side of' the ruffle or ruflies, to correspond or coincide; and, finally, the work done by this attachment presents great variety, beauty, and superiority of finish, with less labor and less expenditure of thread. i

When it is the Wish of the operator to use the attachment as a braider, it is only necessary to relieve the plate-cam S, and secure it with its rubbing-surface iiush with the inside edge of the plait-har, or nearly so, and then placing the braid in charge of the nippers n, in such away that it traverses the eye or needle-slot of' the same, they will act as a guide, holding the braid like minute thumb and 1inger, while the operating machine sews the braid upon the cloth, as desired.

The superior action of my invention, as a braider, is especially apparent when the platecam S is so adjusted as to give a slight motion of the nippers on the braid,`like that described in gathering. In such case the nippers not only act as a guide for the braid, but also prevent the tension, and consequent stretching, of the braid, which occurs in other devices, and permits even slight fulling thereof when desired. The whole attachment is promptly applied or detached by means of the set-screw S to the foot-bar.

I claim as my invention- 1 1. The notched spring fingers or nippers converging towardeach other at the ends nearest the presser-foot, andY shaped to positively retain and carry the material lying between them during their forward movement, and inv l their backward movement slip over the same, as described. l

2. The adjustable plate-cam S, in combination with the nippers fn to measure the plait.

3. The plait-bar p, provided with the nippers n, and with the opening r, as and for the purposes setforth.

4. The combination, with the presser and the plait-bar, having the nippers u, of the spring c and stay-screw b', as and for the purposes set forth.

WILLIAM A. MACK.

Witnesses:

J AMES BLAKE, DANIEL H. STONE. 

